About Alliance Française

Alliance Française is the largest and oldest network of French language and cultural centers in the world. It was funded in 1883 in Paris, France.

The Alliance Française chapters across the world are dedicated to promoting French language and francophone culture in order to foster relationships between people of all nationalities, ethnicity, and backgrounds.

Alliance Française of Washington, D.C. is one of the 850 chapters in the world, and one of 111 chapters in the US. The American network of Alliance Française chapters is the most important of all the Alliance Française’s networks.

The Alliance Française of Washington, D.C.

The Alliance Française of Washington, D.C. was founded in 1905. Interrupted by World war 2, it reopened in 1949 originally as a social club and became an officially incorporated organization in 1965.

The Alliance Française of Washington, D.C. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-governmental organization. It is not subsidized by any government. It is an educational and cultural institution headed by a Franco-American Board of Directors.

The Alliance Française of Washington, D.C. serves as the leading center for French language, French culture and francophone resources in the Nation’s Capital. Alliance Française of Washington, D.C. enriches the lives of the D.C. community by offering the chance to connect with people of different backgrounds and cultures in order to better understand and appreciate the greater global community.

” I wanted to share some happy news: in early September I will begin a new job working on scholarly exchanges in francophone Africa: in other words, using French on the job! It’s something that’s basically been a back-burner dream of mine for, well, my whole life. Though I’ve always felt very connected to my French (Canadian) heritage and dreamed of finding a job that would let me have the pleasure of speaking French on a daily basis, I never thought I was good enough and never really tried to make it happen. Then, magically, the perfect opportunity fell into my lap. And because of the Alliance, I was ready. Through and through, I have to credit the Alliance for being the very heartbeat of my French exposure in DC. Without the Alliance, there is no chance – not in a million years – that I would have an opportunity like this…”